1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to fishing lures. More particularly, the present invention relates to fishing lures that release fish attracting compounds when submersed in water.
2. Background Art
The activity of fishing with a baited line predates recorded history. In this vast period of time, inventive fishermen have developed countless baits and lures. In the past several decades, the popularity of recreational sport fishing has grown dramatically. In light of this popularity, fishermen have been inclined to develop new instruments and techniques for finding and catching fish. It is for this reason that the prior art record of patents is replete with thousands of different fishing lure designs.
Many artificial lures are designed with unique shapes and movements that are intended to make the lures attractive to fish. However, many species of fish track their prey either partially or totally based on scent. In fact, some species of fish are so sensitive to scent that they can detect prey miles away and well out of visual range. For example, certain species of shark can detect blood in water in concentrations of only parts per billion.
Most fish species are known to have the ability to detect chemicals in the environment. It has been determined that certain compounds, such as amino acids, specific proteins, lipids, citrates, urea and other compounds, are contained within the tissues, excretions or blood of prey fish. These compounds, either individually or in combination can physiologically stimulate the olfactory and or gustatory receptors when detected by predator fish. These observed changes in certain predator fish include, increased instances of snapping, biting, and swallowing, as well as increased retention time of held bait. Some fish have been observed to swim more aggressively and across wider areas when scent compounds are detected in the water.
It is for these reasons that natural baits have long been used by fishermen in an attempt to present a natural food source to fish. It is also for these reasons that fishermen chum the waters where they are fishing in hopes of attracting predator game fish. Natural baits however, have a number of inherent drawbacks and disadvantages. These shortcomings include rapid bacteriological spoilage, high cost, unpleasant handling, and durability issues resulting in one time only use. Natural bait also smells, and fouls all surfaces it touches. This requires that fishing boats and fishing gear be cleaned repeatedly in order to be kept sanitary. Recognizing the disadvantages of natural bait, the popularity of artificial lures grew.
Although artificial lures solved many of the obvious shortcomings of natural bait, they were not as effective in catching fish. The prior art is replete with many different lure designs that incorporate scent or other perceived methods to attract predator game fish to artificial lures. In the simplest form, such prior art lures use an absorbent material that is soaked with fish oils. Such prior art lures are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 1,393,617 to Frame, entitled Artificial Bait; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,519 to Keller, entitled Artificial Bait.
A problem associated with absorbent fishing lures is that they have a tendency to release their scent quickly. Thus, after the lure has been in use in the water for a few minutes, all the oils have left the lure and the lure is saturated with only water.
In attempts to prolong the period of time that a lure releases scent, scent compounds have been incorporated within the matrix of various polymers. The reason for this is that the attractants are supposed to leech out from the lure when in the water and attract fish. This approach has several drawbacks, releasing the attractant from the lure to slowly, resulting in the decomposition of the scent, or too rapidly exhausting the attractant from the lure. These lure designs do not allow sufficient means of recharging the attractants to be of any use to the fisherman in attracting fish. These lure designs also do not allow the fisherman to introduce different attractants to the lure to quickly target specific species of fish. Thus, once the scent is exhausted, the lure cannot be refilled with scent and must be discarded. Typical of this design is that the migration of the suspended attractant agents are greatly restricted and are unable to be released in a predictable or sustained manner. Such prior art lures are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,247 to Wolford, entitled Artificial Fish Baits With Sustained Release Properties; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,609 to Walker, entitled Fish Attractant Scented Fishing Lure.
Other designs have sought a similar approach of combining scent within the matrix of the lure, but make the mistake of using water insoluble polymers or gums which do not release at a desired rate if at all. Again, these designs trap the scent attractant within their matrices where they break down and decompose, and render the lure ineffective.
It was to overcome the lack of effectiveness and expense of these described prior art devises that the present invention was developed. It can be seen that a need exists in the field of artificial fishing lures, for a lure that slowly releases scent compounds in fresh, salt or brackish water, yet can be repeatedly recharged with the scent compounds once the initial scent compounds have been exhausted. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.